"Do you think it's a wolf wolf or a..." Liam trailed off as the 3 of us made our way through the forest in search of any sign of the wolf.
Scott looked over at Liam, "I think it's just a wolf."
I kicked at a stray stick, "What do you think it was doing on the field."
Scott opened his mouth to answer but quickly closed it when his eyes fell on something on the ground. Liam and I followed his gaze, both of our eyes growing wide. On the ground was a dead wolf, it was different than the one that had been on the field, bigger.
I let out a small whine at the sight of the dead animal. If there was one thing I hated it was animals getting hurt.
My sorrow soon turned to absolute fear when little black specks began pouring from the wolves eyes and mouth. I quickly realized that the little black specks were spiders. This sent me into full panic mode, letting out a shriek as I all but climbed onto my brother's back, being sure the spiders couldn't reach me.
Scott tried to shake me off, "Sydney get off of me ."
I clutched on tighter, "No way, not with those things crawling around."
Scott groaned, "Syd grow up."
I scoffed, "Grow up? Scott, these are hundreds of spiders we are talking about. I know you're all macho alpha and stuff but-"
"Guys." Liam interjected, cutting our sibling banter short. He raised his hand to point deeper in the forest.
I followed where he was pointing only to see dozens of dead wolves littering the forest floor. "Oh God." I whispered, finally letting go of Scott, allowing myself to drop to the ground.
All 3 of us just stared in shock, not really knowing what to say. I didn't know what happened, I really had no clue. I was hoping the wolves had died from some spreadable disease that ripped through their pack. In reality, I knew that wasn't the truth and that unfortunately, it looked like we had something bigger on our hands.
---
"What the hell is going on?" I mumbled as Liam and I made our way back to the school. Scott had left right after we found the wolves, telling us he would meet us back at the house.
Liam shook his head as he ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know, but we should call Lydia and Malia."
I let out a sad sigh, "Malia leaves for Paris in a few hours and Lydia has to leave for school, she's already put it off long enough."
Liam pulled out his phone anyways, "Well it won't hurt to try."
As we entered the school, I tuned out Liam's voice as he spoke to Lydia, my eyes scanning the empty halls. They stopped when a figure came into view. He was at the far end of the school, too far to hear us, but close enough to see us. It was Nolan.
The minute our eyes met, I could almost sense the fear that was hidden deep within him-the kid was terrified.
"Just meet us at Scott's in an hour." Liam's voice pulled my eyes away from Nolan. "Lydia is going to try to get Malia to come." he announced as he shoved his phone into his pocket.
I nodded as I looked back down the hall, only to find it was empty, "Great." I muttered absentmindedly.
Liam could sense that something was distracting me, and so he placed his fingers under my chin and turned my face towards him, "You okay?"
I shook my head lightly as if to shake away my thoughts and gave him a forced smile, "Yeah, just thinking about the spiders still."
Liam cracked a smile as he pressed his lips to mine, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."
I playfully rolled my eyes as I lightly shoved him towards the locker room, "Go get changed, I'll wait out here."
Liam gave me one last cheeky grin before disappearing into the locker room. I let out a puff of air as I leaned up against the wall, pulling my phone from my pocket. I responded to a few texts from my mom and Scott before scrolling through social media. I knew Liam could take forever in there, he usually did.
"What was out there?"
I almost dropped my phone in shock as the voice echoed in the empty school, "Nolan." I breathed, closing my eyes for a minute and catching my breath, "What are you still doing here?"
Nolan shifted his weight between either foot, he seemed on edge, "I want to know what you guys saw out there."
I gave him a small smile as I put my phone back into my pocket, "We didn't see anything," I lied, "We tried to find the wolf but it was long gone. It won't come back."
Nolan shook his head quickly, "You're lying."
I was taken aback, and it was evident on my face as I scrunched up my nose "What?"
"I heard you and Liam," he explained, "You asked what was going on, and Liam said you should call Lydia and Malia-they're Scott's friends, right?"
I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest, "It's rude to eavesdrop, Nolan. And besides, we were just trying to figure out what to do tonight, that's it. Everyone's leaving for school and we wanted to have one last night." It was obviously a huge lie but he didn't know that.
Nolan didn't look convinced as he took a step towards me, "But-"
The door to the locker room swung open and Liam walked out, stepping right in between Nolan and I, "Go home Holloway, it's late." Liam's voice was a bit harsh, most likely due to the fact that Nolan was all but harassing me for answers.
Nolan clenched his jaw as he looked between Liam and I, before letting out a sigh, "See you guys later." he muttered before turning on his heal and walking towards the exit.
Once he was gone I turned to Liam and let out a sigh of relief, "That kid was relentless."
Liam nodded as he swung his bag over his shoulder, "You did good. I didn't think you could lie that well."
I looked over at him in shock, "You were listening the whole time?"
Liam gave me a strange look, "Well, obviously I'm going to listen when my girlfriend is talking to another guy."
I smacked his shoulder, "Why didn't you come out and help me!?"
Liam laughed as he rubbed at his shoulder, "Syd, I wasn't wearing any clothes, I just got out of the shower."
I gave him a look as to say 'so what?' Liam scrunched up his face, "You wanted me to come out in just a towel?"
I threw my hands up, "Help a sista out! It's not like he's never seen you with no clothes on, don't guys walk around the change rooms with no clothes on all the time?"
The look on Liam's face went from disgusted to devious in a split second, "You just wanted to see me in a towel didn't you?"
I gave him a disapproving look as I shoved the doors to the parking lot open, "You wish buddy."
---
"A little help?" Scott huffed as he and Liam struggled to do up his suitcase. I sat on his bed scrolling through my phone.
I looked up from what I was doing, "I think you guys have got it." I muttered before looking back down at my phone. See, my logic was, if Scott can't finish packing, then he can't leave for school. Problem solved.
Scott rolled his eyes as he desperately tried to do up the buckle, "Sydney, I'm leaving for school no matter what so just get over here and help us."
I sent him a glare as I stood from his bed, coming to stand in front of the two boys, "What do you expect me to do."
Scott and Liam both sat back from the bag, taking a minute to gather their breaths. "Sit on the top." Scott instructed, pointing to the luggage.
I gave him a look before sitting on the bag, the minute I was on it, the two boys began to try again.
"Whatever happened to the wolves had to be supernatural." Liam spoke as the continued trying.
"Well, I wouldn't say definitely," Scott countered, "It could have been a parasitic infection. We get dogs at the clinic that have botflies coming out of their skin."
I scrunched up my face at his description, "Disgusting" I shuddered.
Liam ignored me, "Can it happen to people?"
"Yeah, they can crawl into their skin, lay eggs and eventually-" Scott cut himself off, letting out a sigh, "She's not heavy enough."
I turned to look at the boys who were just staring back at me, "What do you want me to do about it?" They both just shrugged, "You get on here Scott, that will do it."
An offended look crossed Scott's face as he stood up, coming to replace me on the suitcase, "Gee, thanks Syd."
I gave him a mocking smile, "It's all muscle." I promised as I patted him on the back.
Once Scott had taken a seat, Liam and I tried to get the buckles done up, and within a matter of seconds we had it done, "Told you that would do it." I grinned as I stood up.
Scott and Liam both grabbed a hold of the suitcase, throwing it onto the bed in triumph. Seconds after it hit the mattress the whole thing sprung back open.
We all shared a look of frustration. "It burst." Scott pointed out the obvious.
"Well then, " I sighed, flopping down on the mattress beside the suitcase, "Guess you'll just have to stay here, with me, forever."
Scott ignored my comment, most likely because it was the same comment I had been making for the last 2 months, "Syd, go get ready for bed, I need to talk to Liam."
I sat up, looking between my brother and boyfriend with narrowed eyes, "Wow, feeling the inclusion here for sure."
Scott laughed as he pulled me up from the bed, "Just go."
I rolled my eyes as I leaned over to give Liam a kiss on the cheek, "Come see me before you leave."
He nodded as Scott watched the two of us, not with a glare like he usually did when we showed any form of PDA, but with a small smile.
"Night Syd," he called as I made my way out of his room, "I love you."
I smiled as I turned back to look at my big brother, "I love you too, Scott."
-an-
so hey guys. this is a really random update because I literally have not updated in like 5 months but here you go! im not here to make excuses, i know i barely update and that is for a number a reasons, the biggest being that im in second year university and really don't have a lot of time to myself anymore. all i can say is expect slow updates, and im sorry for that, but i hope you enjoy them when they do come.
i thought this chapter was pretty cute (besides the dead wolves) so i really hoped you guys enjoyed it.
let me know in the comments what you thought!
-maddy xoxo